BE AWARE OF THESE THINGS WHEN DEALING WITH VODACOM:

In November 2022 I got what Vodacom calls a “bill shock”, meaning I accidentally ran up a massive bill. I immediately contacted Vodacom, as I was unable to pay the full amount but did not want to be blacklisted. I was told that they would not help me until December.

December came and I went to a local Vodacom store numerous times to try and set up a payment plan. I was ignored until I finally lodged a complaint on Hellopeter. I was then contacted by someone in their accounts department and instructed on how to proceed and a payment plan was discussed. I was told that my contract would be suspended for the period that I was paying off the amount, that I would go to a top up plan and that I would still be able to receive calls and I was told that I would not be penalised.

In January I started receiving notifications requesting full payments. I was assured that I should not be concerned. Later in the month I was informed by Experian that I was skipping payments and my credit score was negatively affected. My incoming calls were also disabled. I went back to the Vodacom store and was informed that they were unable to do anything about this as it had been disabled from Vodacom’s side. I wrote emails, made calls, tried repeatedly to explain that this was not what we had arranged but I kept getting “cut-and-paste” replies that echoed across the various departments.

In February I received an email threatening that I will have my devices that are attached to my number completely disabled and that I would be reported to the credit bureaus unless I pay the full amount. Of course, they had already reported me to the credit bureaus and disabled my incoming calls, so it was a moot point. I was told by the accounts department to ignore this once again.

Frustrated by now, I contacted the NCC to lodge a complaint who just sent me back to Vodacom. I made repeated requests for my voice recordings to clarify what I had been told but these requests were all ignored. And I kept getting vague replies. The NCC has also not explained my recourse or responded to my queries, although a little while back I began to receive incoming calls again.

Now roughly six months later, the bill has been settled. On Thursday I contacted the call centre to notify them to have my line and contract reinstated. I was told that this would happen automatically once the amount reflected (7th July according to the bank). I was also promised a call back at 3pm on that day. I am still waiting for both events to happen.

My experience with Vodacom has taught me the following lessons:

1) Immediately adjust the ceiling of the amount that is available to you to prevent you from accidentally overspending should you go over the contract minutes. Vodacom’s default limit is extremely high, (possibly to capitalise on any mistakes and misunderstandings).

2) If you are looking for a user-friendly experience, my suggestion is considering an alternative service provider with simple products. Vodacom has various types of data, airtime and smses with different T&Cs. This can easily amount to you purchasing the incorrect type of product for your needs. Some banks for example, offer sim cards with data, airtime and sms that never expire, are much more affordable, and they don’t charge exorbitant out-of-bundle rates.

3) Vodacom’s policy is not to put anything in writing, and they will in my experience, ignore all your requests to the voice recordings in the event of a dispute. So record all your conversations yourself!

4) Vodacom will not assist you to “find a payment solution” to a large bill until you are in debt with them and then they will report you to the credit bureaus regardless, even if you are honouring THEIR payment instructions.

5) If a consultant tells you there is nothing to be concerned about and you can ignore something. Be concerned. Double check.

6) Communications with the call centre is time consuming. There are generally extremely long waiting times. Even if you go straight to the Vodacom Shop to initiate a service request this may not speed anything up. I waited 14 days from the time that I put in my first service request at a Vodacom store for a consultant to contact me, 26 days if I include my attempts to receive help in November. And then I was only contacted when I lodged a complaint on HelloPeter.

In my experience, Vodacom will not try and find a win-win situation to ensure customer satisfaction, their aim is to win the argument by stone walling you, not to address the complaint or work with you to find an amicable solution. In my experience, you are a number to them, and they will treat you as such. Make an informed choice about who you decide to do business with, some companies are so large, they feel invincible, and they are no longer concerned about the businesses and people who sustain them.

Make a note Vodacom... I will NOT be renewing my contract!